Masterworks concerts for 2022-23 will all be in Macky Auditorium
By Peter Alexander April 27 at 12:15 a.m.
The Boulder Philharmonic announced programming for its 2022–23, 65th anniversary season Tuesday evening (April 26). All subscription concerts for the coming year will be once again in Macky Auditorium
The season introduced by music director Michael Butterman includes some warhorses— Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and Richard Strauss’ Don Juan—some less familiar standard works—Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G—and a healthy dose of new and unfamiliar works (see full programs below). Particularly noteworthy will be two world and one Colorado premiere of commissioned works.
Some features of the season will be familiar to current and past Boulder Phil patrons. One will be the return to Macky. The annual Nutcracker performances with Boulder Ballet are scheduled for Nov. 25 and 27. There will be a seasonal special event, “Holiday Brass with the Phil,” Dec. 18. The Phil’s Executive Director, Sara Parkinson, announced the resumption of the educational Discovery Concerts for school students.
Long-time concertgoers will welcome the return of former CU faculty member and audience favorite Angela Cheng April 22, who has not appeared in Boulder since 2009. Other soloists during the season will include tenor Matthew Plenk, on the opening night concert Oct. 8; double bassist Xavier Foley and violinist Eunice Kim Nov. 12; and violinist Stefan Jakiw March 25.
Boulder Phil concertmaster Charles Wetherbee has been on medical leave, but is expected back next season and will play Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 with the orchestra Jan. 22.
One prominent change for the season is that the Saturday evening concert time has been moved to 7 p.m. from 7:30 p.m., in response to feedback from ticket buyers. That change affects all the masterworks concerts except “Afternoon with Bruckner,” at 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22. In conjunction with the change of curtain time, the Phil will try different forms of related programming for its concerts, including pre-concert lectures, intermission features and post-concert talk-back sessions.
One special event in the season will bring the popular Denver-based multi-instrumental band DeVotchKa to Macky Auditorium to perform with the Phil. That performance will take place at the “old” time of 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, 2023. Further details of that concert are pending.
The opening night concert Oct. 8, titled “Hymn to the Earth,” includes the first of the season’s premieres, a Boulder Phil co-commission that was postponed from a planned earlier season due to COVID: Ozymandias: To Sell a Planet. This musical alarum for threats to the planet was composed by the American composer Drew Hemmenger and uses Percy Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias,” as well as texts from native American sources, United Nations climate reports and speeches by Greta Thunberg.
The Colorado premiere of another co-commission, Jennifer Higdon’s Suite from Cold Mountain, follows on Nov. 12, and another world premiere of a new work by Boulder High School graduate Leigha Amick will be presented April 22, 2023.
Season tickets will go on sale Monday, May 2, and tickets to individual concerts will be available Monday, Aug. 22. Purchases can be made by calling the box office at 303-449-1343, or through the Boulder Phil web page.
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Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra
Michael Butterman, music director
2022-23 Season
All performances in Macky Auditorium except as otherwise noted
Opening Night: Hymn to the Earth
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor
With Boulder Phil Chorus and Matthew Plenk, tenor
- Michael Abels: Global Warming
- Drew Hemenger: Ozymandias: To Sell a Planet (Co-Commission & World Premiere)
- Mozart: Overture to Don Giovanni
- Wagner: Trauermusik from Götterdämmerung
- Richard Strauss: Don Juan
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8
Gran Duo: Higdon and Foley
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor
With Xavier Foley, double bass, and Eunice Kim, violin
- Jennifer Higdon: Suite from Cold Mountain (Co-Commission & Colorado Premiere)
- Xavier Foley: For Justice and Peace
- Giovanni Bottesini: Gran Duo Concertante
- Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12
The Nutcracker with Boulder Ballet
Boulder Philharmonic, Gary Lewis, conductor
2 and 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 25
2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27
Special Event: Holiday Brass with the Phil
4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18
Mountain View United Methodist Church, Boulder
Afternoon with Bruckner
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor
With Charles Wetherbee, violin
- Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5
- Anton Bruckner: Symphony No. 7 in E major
4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023
Jackiw Plays Bruch
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor
With Stefan Jakiw, violin
- George Butterworth: The Banks of Green Willow
- Max Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
- Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances
7 pm. Saturday, March 25, 2023
Ravel and Rachmaninoff
Boulder Philharmonic, Michael Butterman, conductor
With Angela Cheng, piano
- Leigha Amick: “Resound Boulder”” Commission
- Ravel: Piano Concerto in G
- Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
- Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy Overtur
7 p.m. Saturday, April 22, 2023
Special Event: DeVotchKa + Boulder Phil
7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, 2023
Sharps & Flatirons 